The Pursuit of God slowed me down. Ministry can pull me in so many directions that I drift into doing things for God and lose sight of being with him as I do them. A. W. Tozer brought me back to why I started.
Much of the book felt familiar. It did not need to say something dramatic or brand new to be helpful. Tozer’s way of writing quieted some of the noise and reminded me of what matters.
Knowing about God and knowing God
The central invitation I hear in this book is that God is near and wants to be known. Tozer challenges the person who has learned about God without seeking a relationship with him.
For someone unfamiliar with Christian language, knowing God means more than possessing information about religion. Christians use it to describe a relationship of trust, prayer, attention, and love. God’s presence refers to God being with us, whether or not we feel something remarkable.
What stood out to me was that this pursuit is not about earning anything. I read it as an invitation to remove distractions and make room to respond to God. The question is personal: do I want to know Jesus, or am I content with knowing about him?
Faithfulness rather than visibility
One thought that stayed with me concerned the value of service. People have different gifts, but the less visible person’s service still matters to God.
That hit me. In ministry, there is a temptation to measure people, including myself, by how noticeable or successful they seem. When I am not producing obvious results or standing out, I can start to wonder whether I am missing something.
The reminder helped reset my thinking. Faithfulness matters. Quiet service matters. I want to be more intentional about affirming people whose work happens in the background. Their contribution deserves more than being overlooked because somebody else is easier to see.
It also made me ask what I am building and why. Those are questions I need to keep asking, especially when the work gets busy.
Protecting time for a relationship
Reading the book again strengthened my desire to protect time with Jesus. I do not want that to become another obligation to feel guilty about. The desire is simpler than that: I miss him when I do not make that time.
Tozer reminded me that closeness to Jesus belongs at the heart of Christian life. It is where I want my ministry to begin and where I want it to remain.
That affects how I speak to others about God. I want to lead from a relationship I am actually living, rather than from the pressure to perform. I want others to feel that invitation too.
Continue the conversation
For another reflection on making room for prayer, read Experiencing God Through Prayer. If the language of spiritual experience raises questions, our guide to discernment offers ways to examine those experiences thoughtfully.
Book discussed
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
Sources & further reading
A question in the margin is a good place to begin.